San Rafael coffee company wins top U.S. award for small businesses
San Rafael’s Equator Coffees and Teas captured this year’s national Small Business Person of the Year award.
Already the recipients of the California Small Business Person of the Year Award, granted in March, owners Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell traveled to Washington, D.C., to be honored for that this week. But on Monday they learned they are recipients of the national award as well. The announcement came from Maria Contreras-Sweet, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
“It all started in 1995 when they started to roast coffee in Brooke’s garage,” Contreras-Sweet said in a statement. “Equator now has 90 employees and 350 wholesale customers including the renowned French Laundry restaurant, cafes at LinkedIn, micro-kitchens at Google and three retail stores in Northern California with two more on the way.
“Helen and Brooke purchased their own roasting plant using an SBA 504 loan. They have worked diligently with their farmers for 17 years and were one of the first roasters to support the Fair Trade movement to gain better wages for growers.”
Jacklyn Jordan, president and chief executive of Capital Access Group in San Francisco, who recommended the two for the SBA award, said she and others are excited about the recognition for the LGBT-owned company.
